Bellevue romance writer Jane Porter's life imitates art in novel and on TV

Heather Locklear plays the author in television movie

By JOHN MARSHALL, P-I BOOK CRITIC

Published
10:00 pm PST, Sunday, November 30, 2008

Heather Locklear plays Jackie Laurens, who is an autobiographical character based on romance novelist Jane Porter. Porter met and fell in love with a surfer, Ty Gurney (played by Robert Buckley), while she was on vacation after her divorce. Porter has two sons in real life; Laurens has a son and a daughter in the movie. less

Heather Locklear plays Jackie Laurens, who is an autobiographical character based on romance novelist Jane Porter. Porter met and fell in love with a surfer, Ty Gurney (played by Robert Buckley), while she was ... more

Photo: Lifetime

Photo: Lifetime

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Heather Locklear plays Jackie Laurens, who is an autobiographical character based on romance novelist Jane Porter. Porter met and fell in love with a surfer, Ty Gurney (played by Robert Buckley), while she was on vacation after her divorce. Porter has two sons in real life; Laurens has a son and a daughter in the movie. less

Heather Locklear plays Jackie Laurens, who is an autobiographical character based on romance novelist Jane Porter. Porter met and fell in love with a surfer, Ty Gurney (played by Robert Buckley), while she was ... more

Photo: Lifetime

Bellevue romance writer Jane Porter's life imitates art in novel and on TV

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Jane Porter was sitting poolside at the luxe Halekulani Hotel in Hawaii when the idea for a novel came in a rush, like the trailer for a movie.

One element was being at a crossroads in her life after divorcing at 40. Another was being "adrift" from her "whole identity" as a mom on her first solo trip minus her sons. Another was right beside her -- a very tan older guy buying drinks, yammering about money, clinging to her like Velcro.

"If this is my future," Porter thought, "am I in trouble!"

Something crucial was still absent from the unfolding plot when she heard a cry of "Ty." Porter's younger son has that name, so she could not help but look. She almost gasped.

"There was this surfer guy walking by -- oh, my God!" Porter recalled. "He was tattooed, with a bulldog just above his board shorts. He was very young. He was incredibly good-looking. He was exactly the kind of person I am not attacted to. I was a little afraid of him."

Bingo!

Porter had her novel's final plot element -- the alluring surfer and the dilemma he would present: "Should a woman stay on the road previously traveled? Or be brave enough to follow a road not traveled?"

Fast forward to this coming Saturday at 9 p.m. "Flirting With Forty," the novel that came to Porter on the beach at Waikiki, airs as a movie on Lifetime. Sitting by the hotel pool as divorced mom named Jackie Laurens is Heather "Melrose Place" Locklear. Portraying the rock-abs surfer is Robert "Lipstick Jungle" Buckley.

It's an intriguing case of a TV flick based on women's fiction that parallels a woman's real life. Porter finally had the guts to interview surfer Ty Gurney for her book research, and that led to a relationship. After five years of frequent trips between Hawaii and Seattle, Porter and Gurney are, as she put it, "loosely engaged to be be married sometime in the future." And the 36-year-old surfer and 44-year-old writer are thrilled that their first child is due in May.

These days, Porter is a happy "homebody" who basks in the pregnancy glow as she pads around her traditional home in the posh Eastside enclave of Yarrow Point. Her new second home -- on the beach in Hawaii near Diamond Head -- is being remodeled. Plus, Porter, who will receive a low-six-figures sum from the film, is sure to reap many new readers from its star power, its holiday cheer and its heartening message for older women.

Two of her other novels also have been optioned for films, so life now could not be better.

"I'm proud of what I do," Porter said. "I've got great kids, a great guy in my life. There is no need to shift another way."

Things weren't always like this for the native of Visalia, Calif., a small town between Bakersfield and Fresno. Behind her are a succession of trying challenges over many years, including the death of her father when she was 15 and serious relationships with several men that ended because of their infidelities or, in one case, because the man was apparently gay. Then there was her marriage of 12 years to a brilliant executive in the wireless industry who is a paraplegic, conceiving two children with him through intense high-tech medical wizardry, and finally their wrenching divorce.

Porter attended UCLA, but not before a final summer's romance with a wisecracking Class A minor league pitcher from Bakersfield named Mark Langston, who later became an All-Star for the Seattle Mariners.

After UCLA, Porter got a master's in writing from the University of San Francisco. She soon had a plan to get published. Harlequin, the publishing giant of the romance genre, was pumping out 60 titles a month and Porter figured "somebody has to be writing those books, so why not me?"

Breaking in was tough: Her first 14 novels were rejected.

"I refused to accept," she recalled, "that I couldn't do it."

She finally had a book accepted and still writes formulaic Harlequins, with popular editions published around the globe. But five years ago Porter ventured into new territory with a different publisher, Hachette group. She set longer novels in suburban settings that include Bellevue, with characters closer to her own age and lifestyle -- "Mrs. Perfect," "Flirting With Forty," "Odd Mom Out."

Jayne Ann Krentz of Seattle, one of America's most popular romance writers, has high praise for Porter's work.

"Jane is on the leading edge for this new kind of writing," Krentz said. "She's pulled it off."

"Flirting With Forty" (5 Spot, 352 pages, $12.99) showcases Porter's talents -- an engaging first-person narrator, well-paced dramatics, realistic characters, sassy dialogue. What may be surprising is her examination of the emotional terrain of divorce, from the lingering pain of young children to tripwire relations with an ex-spouse.

Porter spent a week on the set during filming in Hawaii, which was fascinating for the former theater arts major. A 20-minute conversation with Locklear was a highlight. They attended UCLA around the same time and had other things in common. As Porter related, "Heather was sweet, warm, smart, articulate. We talked about being single moms."

Locklear, via her agent, offered her own compliments: "I loved working with Jane, and loved the story from the minute I read it. Hawaii? Surfing? Shirtless younger man? What's not to love? Most importantly, though, Jane captures the humor and real moments in everyday life. That's something everyone who reads her books, or sees the movie, can relate to."

Porter has watched the film three times, including once with Jake, 13, and Ty, 10.

"Mom, it's good" was her kids' verdict.

Porter has a couple of quibbles. Her "biggest disappointment" comes when Locklear's character turns into a drunken "Chatty Cathy" on the plane to Hawaii. There have been alcohol problems in Porter's family, so she never creates characters "who are dependent on alcohol." Nor does she drink.

She also wishes the film were set in Seattle like the novel. It was moved to Denver for a white Christmas aura, but also because filming was cheaper in Canada (where Calgary subbed for Denver).

Porter's capsule view of the film: "A feel-good holiday movie that is fizzy like champagne."

Porter's continuing relationship with Gurney has persuaded her to change her view of endings in real life. The two partners may be high-profile pros in their chosen fields, each with a Web site (janeporter.com, tygurneysurfschool.com). But their temperaments and outlooks are quite different.

Porter admits to being "a control freak," a driven professional following a calculated career path. Gurney, as befits Hawaii, is more laid-back, less into status or stuff.

Gurney's influence, plus the complexities of a relationship across 2,600 miles, led Porter to drop her longtime practice of "planning endings." She said, "Ty always tells me, 'How can you play the game and stare at the scoreboard at the same time? You can't know the outcome until the end of the game.' I now recognize that the good stuff in life is unscripted.

"Things surprise us -- you have to be willing to take risks, perhaps get hurt or have things not work out. I have stopped worrying about that. Now I'm just going to live the story. ... After years of being a drama queen, it's nice to be more mellow."